Vanuatu:
Climate Change Refugees

The
tribal chief went first. And his people followed to be relocated to a
higher ground due to rising sea levels.The
U.N.
Environment Program

About
100 villagers on Tegua (Tagua) Island, one
of the Torres Islands in the far north of Vanuatu,
were moved 600 meters (yards) inland where the ground is 15 meters
higher. It is impossible to keep resettling villages farther inland
because the biggest island in the Torres is about 16 km (10 miles)
long and 3 km (2 miles) wide.

Tuvaluan
Prime Minister Maatia Toafa told
Reuters: "The
prediction is in 50 years Tuvalu will not exist. Resettlement is
impossible in the country because all the islands are low-lying."
The highest point in the country is 5 meters above sea level

http://media.maps.com/magellan/Images/VANUAT-W1.gif

Following
years of being exposed to the wrath of storm surges, king tides and
aggressive seas, the tiny and remote settlement of Tegua, in
Vanuatu's northernmost province of Torba, had to be relocated to
higher grounds some 15 metres further inland.

A
settlement named Lateau in the Torba Province, Vanuatu had to
relocate to higher ground due to constant flooding and coastal
erosion of 2-3m every year.

Lateau
was a low lying settlement (only 5 meters above the high water mark)
and faced frequent inundation by storm surges and high tides.

From Tegua
to Lirak... villagers had to be relocated due to king tides and
aggressive seas.

In
Vanuatu, an entire coastal village on the island of Tegua is being
forced to move to higher ground, its huts flooded by surging seas.

Due
to severe water shortages on the island Lateau was on, villagers
could not move to higher grounds. To best avoid flooding, they built
their homes on piles of limestone rocks and firestoves in kitchens
were also raised above the ground. Village grounds were always muddy
and slippery and many children suffered malaria and water-borne
diseases.

After
their coastal homes were repeatedly swamped by surges and large waves
linked with climate change driven storms, in August the villagers of
Lateu were relocated to higher ground in the interior of Tegua, one
of Vanuatu's northern provinces.

The
high coral reef, Lateu's previous line of defense against high tides
and waves, had ceased to protect the village and the coastline was
eroding between two and three meters (seven to 10 feet) a year.